Chicago Bears

Chicago Bears 2017 Coaching Review: Looking at the Top Four Coaches

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 9:52 p.m. ET

Fansided, Bryan Dietzler/FanSided via Bear Goggles On

Dec 11, 2016; Detroit, MI, USA; Chicago Bears head coach John Fox during the game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

It was a historically bad season for the Chicago Bears. Not since the league went to a 16-game schedule have the Bears lost so many games in a season. How did the coaching staff perform? Is there hope for this group?

The 2016 Chicago Bears squad was one of the worst in team history. There are several factors that contributed to their downfall but injuries were easily the biggest issue. They had 19 players on injured reserve to start the season while several more were playing hurt. You can’t do anything when your best players aren’t lining up for you on game days. And no team can overcome the obstacles that were thrown in the Bears’ path this season.

Because of the number of injuries the Bears had, the coaching staff is getting a pass and will be retained for one more season. This is good and bad. For one, it does prove that the Bears are somewhat non-dysfunctional and are not going to fire coaches every two years if they don’t do well. Sometimes it takes more than two years to build a team and make it a winner. Other teams have had quicker success but the Bears, with their upper management, are not going to have a quick turn around.

The retention of the current coaching staff can be considered a plus because it allows for some continuity heading into next season. There isn’t much that will need to change in terms of each unit’s scheme. Now all that is needed is the players to add to what they already have. If they can combine the new talent with what is left of the group of guys, they can move forward. Hopefully they move forward to more victories.

bears

NFL Mocks 1 d2017 NFL Mock Draft: Three Full Rounds of Mayhem

More headlines around FanSided:

4d - NFL Draft Prospects: Alabama 1 w - 2017 NFL Mock Draft: New Regimes Create New Problems 2w - 2017 NFL Mock Draft: Top Quarterbacks Start Their Rise 2w - 2017 NFL Mock Draft 1.0: Defense Dominates in First Round 4w - Deshone Kizer Officially Declares For 2017 NFL DraftMore News at Bear Goggles On

But one of the drawbacks to having the same coaching staff again is that the same problems could occur. You can have the same issues with instilling a winning attitude that John Fox has. With Dowell Loggains, we can have his inability to run the football rear its ugly head again in 2017. That is not good for the Bears. The offensive play calling was also questionable. Will we see that again next season?

There was supposedly some friction between Fox and Vic Fangio and it appears that either isn’t true or it’s been taken care of. The Bears cannot afford to lose Fangio as he is arguably the best coach on the Bears’ staff. Given healthy players that can execute, Fangio could have one of the top defenses in the NFL. Having the healthy bodies available is the key.

Special teams for the Bears was mediocre at best this past season. Kicking started off rough for the Bears while punting was thought to be solid until you look at the numbers. Coverage teams were decent enough but the return teams were not as productive as they have been in the past. Jeff Rodgers and his crew still struggle to find a good return specialist that can make a difference. There is much more work that needs to be done here.

The following is a look at the Bear’s top four coaches, Fox, Fangio, Loggains and Rodgers. There is some insight into how they did this year and what the future may hold for the 2017 campaign.

Nov 13, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; Chicago Bears wide receiver Alshon Jeffery (17) stands with head coach John Fox against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. The Buccaneers won 36-10. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

When Fox was hired by the Bears, they felt that they had found a winning coach. They had to have thought that, with his pedigree, he could easily get the Bears put back together and get them to the playoffs. Maybe he could even get them to a Super Bowl. Couldn’t he easily clean up the mess left by former head coach Marc Trestman? Upper management and ownership thought he could.

Fox took a broken team and made it a little better in his first season but this year the bottom fell out. We have talked a lot about the fact that injuries had a big part of what caused the Bears to fall apart this season and for that, Fox and his crew will get a pass. If he had better health and no issues at quarterback and still went 3-13, he would probably be gone.

There are some things that Fox doesn’t do well. Clock management is one thing he struggles with. He struggled with that before he got to Chicago though. Managing information is another but that’s not affecting things on the field. It just frustrates the fans and the media. That doesn’t affect how his team plays on the field.

Another issue that Fox seems to have is putting a winning attitude in the heads of his players. You didn’t see the team try to win too many games. Instead, you saw them try not to lose them. Not trying to lose means playing it safe and not trying to build a lead. It also means not managing the clock better. Now you did see them play to win against the Packers in December, that was clear but in almost every other game, the did not attempt to take the steps to try to really come out and win the game. That falls on Fox.

While he has had success in Carolina and Denver, he has seemed to hit a bit of a wall in Chicago. Is it his fault? Not entirely. Management, particularly upper management, has not provided the Bears with some of the tools they need to win. They are finding good players but some of these players have seemingly come to the team “pre-injured” and don’t see the field that often (Kevin White and Pernell McPhee). They are supposed to be high impact players but they miss an enormous amount of time.

This is what Fox has had to deal with since arriving in the windy city.

2016 was a very poor outing for Fox, this we know. But when the players that landed on injured reserve are back and healthy and the quarterback position is stable, there will be no more excuses. If things go well with the roster during the 2017 season, then Fox needs to get this team to win. If he doesn’t, his third year in Chicago will be his last.

Fangio is one of the most popular coaches with fans and the media. In fact, (in opening a can of worms) he may be the best coach on the staff. Like his boss, Fox, he gets a pass this season due to the injuries that his defense suffered. His unit was gutted by injuries and was not as effective as it could have been.

If you watched every game this season you would have seen that there were times that his defense did play well. If you look at the rankings from the 2016 season, it’s easy to see that the Bears were not a complete disaster on that side of the ball. Regarding the pass defense, that was ranked seventh in the NFL allowing 224.9 yards per game. That’s solid. For total yards, the team allowed an average of 346.8 which was good for 15th in the NFL.

Then there were two big places the Bears defense struggled. When it came to points allowed, the defense allowed 24.9 which was ranked a lowly 24th in the league. Finally, the rushing defense was one of the worst in the NFL allowing 121.9 yards on average. That put the Bears at 27th in the NFL.

More from Bear Goggles On

Anyone who watched the defense knows that while they did have a lot of injuries they did have some good depth. The main problem when those younger or second and third string players were starting was execution. The execution was poor many times and it cost the Bears wins. Chicago could have won a few more games had the defense not broken down at critical moments. The breakdowns appeared to increase as the season went on but that’s because the injuries skyrocketed.

Fangio will be retained barring anything unusual happening. With good health and additional talent, he could put together a strong defense that could help the Bears win games next season. He is the best they have and knows what to do and how to do it. He just needs the pieces to put together and execute his scheme.

On a side note, I have spoken to and read several messages from fans and a popular thought is that if Fox was to get let go, Fangio could be the next head coach. No matter what happened this season, if Fox would have been let go many people wanted Fangio to step in and take over. He is very popular with fans and the main reason for that is that he is has been proven to be a good coach. He has a lot of potential as a head coach.

At the end of the 2015 season, former Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase was hired by the Miami Dolphins as their head coach. Now they are in the playoffs. Some people think that the Bears made a mistake in letting Gase go and that he should have been the head coach. They think that Fox should have been sacrificed to keep Gase. Hindsight is 20/20.

Loggains is young and still has a lot to learn. That really showed this season. Yes, the Bears offense had several injuries to deal with, especially at quarterback but overall, the offense was clunky. The most recognizable issue was the lack of a running game. Loggains placed the responsibility of winning games on his quarterbacks and didn’t run the ball as often as he should have. And when the Bears ran the ball often, which wasn’t much, they almost always won.

The rankings for Loggains offense are interesting and on their face, show us that the offense might not have been as bad as most people thought. At least if you go by the numbers. But the key number, points, in which the Bears ranked 28th averaging 17.4 per game, is the scary one. The Bears could almost never score enough points to win.

When it came to total yards per game, the Bears were 15th averaging 356.5. Some of this is grown out of Matt Barkley’s huge passing performances as the year ended. Speaking of passing yards, Chicago ranked 14th in the NFL averaging 248.1 yards per game. It’s too bad their middle of the pack passing game couldn’t have put more points on the board.

Finally, the rushing game earned 108.4 yards per game which was 17th in the league. As mentioned, Loggains did not seem to be able to figure out that the running game could help them win games. Jordan Howard was a huge asset to the offense and he could have gained even more yards had he been used more often.

Much like the defense, execution was a problem on offense. They could not score enough points to win due to the poor execution. We also wonder if it was poor quarterback play that could have been Loggains problem or was Loggains the quarterbacks’ problem? Maybe it was a little bit of both.

Another interesting theory that has come up is that Loggains “handcuffed” his quarterbacks, especially Brian Hoyer and that’s why they weren’t as productive as they might have been. He may have not been sure what he had in Hoyer and Barkley and thus limited them to what they could do in the offense. That seems like a strong possibility, especially when Hoyer played.

Loggains must step it up next season to find success and help this team win. He must rely on the run more and may have to develop a new quarterback. With hopes that the offense will have good health, Loggains will try to prove he’s worthy of being an NFL offensive coordinator. If he can’t he will not only drag himself down but he will take the Bears down. And fans, as well as management, will not be able to tolerate another losing season.

The Bears’ special teams have been complicated over the past two seasons. They have made mistakes and they have had success but overall, they have been just about mediocre. After years of having great special teams (during the Lovie Smith era with Dave Toub) the Bears have been struggling to put a solid product on the field. It has hurt them just as much as the problems on offense and defense have.

The Bears special teams are ranked just below the middle of the pack by most experts. Their field goal and extra point kicking was ranked low while their kickoffs were rated well. For as many positive things were said about the punting units, the numbers don’t lie. Rankings have them as not doing as well as some had stated but punter Pat O’Donnell did do well pinning opponents deep in their own territory.

Kick returns were weak while punt returns were ok. The slight “arrow up” in punt returns can be attributed to the short period the Bears had Eddie Royal as a return specialist. He was good but he just wasn’t available long enough to make a significant impact.

But, just like Loggains, management decided to retain the service of Rodgers for at least one more year. Can we expect more of the same out of the special teams in 2017?

The schemes of a special teams unit are devised by its coach but the execution is carried out by the players. Keep in mind that the players on special teams are typically the second and third string guys. Some of these guys were not very talented special teamers. Therefore, this unit struggled and Rodgers cannot be blamed for the issues with the talent he had to work with.

There are high hopes that Rodgers and his crew can turn things around and make the Bears third phase better in 2017. If he doesn’t then he might be gone at the end of next season. Just like the rest of the coaching staff, Rodgers is likely to be on a short leash and needs to start helping to put up wins. The losing is very getting old.